Assaulted by male cop, called 'Pakistani', Sadaf Jafar recounts police brutality

After being released from Lucknow Jail on Tuesday, Social activist and Congress worker Sadaf Jafar accused male officials in Uttar Pradesh police of brutally attacking her while calling her a "Pakistani". Jafar was arrested while she was live-streaming the anti-CAA protests in the state capital on Facebook.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh):Social activist and Congress worker Sadaf Jafar, who was released from Lucknow Jail on Tuesday after being arrested during a protest against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), accused male officials of Uttar Pradesh police of brutally attacking her while calling her a "Pakistani".

"I was kicked in the stomach by a male police official. He called me a Pakistani," she told reporters after being released from jail.

The activist was accused of "rioting" and was "tortured" and "abused" by the police, who had arrested her from a protest venue at Parivartan Chowk on December 19.

"The cops abused me and I was slapped by a female cop and then beaten and assaulted by a male officer, who claimed that he was an Inspector General rank officer. He kicked me in the stomach," she said.

She said that being in police custody felt like being in a "black hole".

"Anybody who came looking for me at Hazratganj police station was also being detained...It was like a black hole," she recalled.

She further alleged that she was denied blanket and food at the police station.

Sadaf is a single mother of two minor children and her arrest had led to widespread outrage.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and filmmaker Mira Nair were among those prominent figures who criticised her arrest and demanded her release.

Priyanka Gandhi had even visited her home in Lucknow and met her children.

Sadaf was arrested while she was live-streaming the anti-CAA protests in the state capital on Facebook.